WhatsApp fined $3.3 mn in Italy for forcing users to share personal data

WhatsApp has been fined $3.3 million in Italy for 'forcing' users to share their personal data with its parent company Facebook.

The popular chat app had been asked by all of the 28 EU data protection authorities to stop sharing users' data with Facebook as doubts remained over the validity of users' consent, Express.co.uk reported on Friday.

"We're reviewing the decision and we look forward to responding to officials," the report quoted a WhatsApp spokesman as saying.

After Facebook, took over WhatsApp in 2014, in August 2016, it changed its privacy policy to allow the personal information of its users to be transferred to the parent company for processing - a move that ran into stiff opposition in India.

The Indian government submitted to the Supreme Court in April that it was actively considering to bring in a law to protect data and curb sharing of individual data on social networking sites and online messaging services.

At the time it acquired WhatsApp, Facebook had claimed that respect for the privacy of users was "coded into its DNA".

According to the Italian agency, the application allowed users to believe they would not be able to continue using the service unless they agreed to terms including sharing personal data.

A spokesperson for WhatsApp said in an emailed comment, "We're reviewing the decision and we look forward to responding to officials."

The fine was lower than the maximum €5 million that could have been levied by the agency.

The Italian agency added it had also found other aspects of WhatsApp's terms of use were unfair, including allowing for unexplained interruptions to service and only the provider having the right to terminate the agreement.